Ma¯tai Smith: Te Matatini over the years
It was in front of the TV screen that little Ma¯tai Rangi Smith got his first taste of professional kapa haka. That flourished into taking the stage himself and, 35 years later, the television and radio presenter hosted this year’s event.
Smith (Rongowhakaata, Nga¯i Ta¯manuhiri and Nga¯ti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) presented Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata for the fifth time last week.
Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata, Aotearoa’s largest cultural festival, was staged this time at Eden Park in Ta¯maki Makaurau.
It is the 50th anniversary of the event that has been cancelled multiple times over the past few years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The event had 45 teams competing and was broadcast on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+ to its largest ever audience.
Smith said the live coverage was a huge development for kapa haka. ‘‘It used to be like they filmed it, then they had like a twohour special on a Sunday morning with highlights from each of the groups,’’ he said.
Smith is from Tu¯ranganuia-Kiwa (Poverty Bay), a region, he says, that is renowned for haka.
‘‘The first time I watched Te Matatini was probably on the television set, and I think it was the 1988 Whanga¯rei festival,’’ he said. ‘‘I remember watching it as a kid and thinking: Oh this is pretty cool.’’ Smith did not realise that a lot of his wha¯nau were involved in kapa haka group Waihı¯rere, who won the festival that year.
Smith’s growing passion for kapa haka saw him try out successfully for Waihı¯rere in 1994.
His first performance on the national stage was that year when it was held at the Ha¯wera Racecourse. ‘‘I think I was 16, 17 years young. I mean you had to be 16 or older to be eligible for Te
Matatini, which at the time was called ATMPAF,’’ he said.
The Aotearoa Traditional Ma¯ori Performing Arts Festival was its former name.
Smith had nerves during his first performance but said it was exhilarating and memorable.
‘‘Just the pride of being able to perform with your wha¯nau at a national event,’’ he said.
‘‘But also the expectation, because I was standing with Waihı¯rere who were former champions at the time, they had won the festival three times.’’
Smith said he learnt a lot from his first performance. ‘‘I think we placed fourth but I will never forget my first festival.’’
The first time the kapa haka festival was broadcast live on television was in 1996, when it was the Aotearoa Ma¯ori Festival of the Arts. Smith tried out for Waihı¯rere that year but didn’t make the team.
However, he was working as a reporter for TVNZ and saw behind the scenes how the first broadcast was pulled together.
‘‘My producer at the time put forward a proposal to TVNZ to say, let’s go live with the top six groups,’’ he said. ‘‘I was marvelling at the time thinking: Wow this is pretty cool, we are going live with kapa haka.’’
In 1998, the top six performances were broadcast live again, this time on TV2.
‘‘That year I trialled again for the team, but I pulled out because I was offered an opportunity ... to be one of the roving reporters for the live coverage,’’ Smith said.
‘‘I think I had just turned 21, for me that was a huge opportunity to get some other skills under my belt. I had never gone live before.’’
So Smith watched as his former team, Waihı¯rere, won for a fourth time, at Trentham Racecourse in Wellington.
‘‘I had mixed emotions, I was absolutely and immensely proud of them but at the same time kicking myself ... I missed out on an opportunity to perform with them and take out a festival.’’
In 2007, Smith returned to the performance stage with a new team. In 2006, his other wha¯nau, based in Manutu¯ke¯, near Gisborne, started a group called Tu¯ Te Manawa Ma¯urea.
Smith lives there now and was brought up there by his grandparents.
Smith performed at the next three Te Matatini events.
‘‘My last performance was here in Gisborne when it was staged in 2011,’’ he said.
Smith was asked by Ma¯ori Television in 2013 to co-host the Te Matatini festival broadcast.
Smith said he misses kapa haka but finds enjoyment in his new role.
The festival centres on three forms of Ma¯ori performing arts: haka, poi and waiata-a¯-ringa (action song).
Smith said the action song is his favourite.